The Dark Rift: Redemption (20 page)

“Jodie?” Chuck called to her.

“Yeah, Chuck. I’ve got a visitor out here.”

Chuck pulled himself out of the access door, while Jodie watched as, one by one, more creatures came forward out of the darkness and filled the hallway.

“Jodie, get in the shaft,” he said.

She noticed movement from the other end of the hall. Suddenly, the air was filled with a horrible odor, the stench of rotting flesh wafting, the smell so intensely repulsive that Jodie clamped her hand over her face. A horde of hundreds emerged from the shadows, their bodies dripping and exploding with decay.

“Get in the shaft, now,” Chuck said, grabbing her arm and pushing her toward the access door.

Jodie ducked her head into the shaft and grabbed the ladder, moving up a few rungs. From behind her, she heard the horde begin to hum, their voices growing into a deep growl. The walls seemed to resonate with the vibrations created by their collective voice. “Get in here, Chuck,” she yelled.

“Sorry, Jodie. I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Chuck said.

Looking down, Jodie saw the door close behind her. “Chuck,” she called out, hearing the stampede headed toward him and the clash when they converged on him. She pulled herself up as fast as she could, knowing Chuck would only be able to fend them off for so long. The sounds of battle quieted the further up the shaft she climbed.

Reaching for the next rung, Jodie was aware of the tears falling from her cheeks. This was the second time she’d cried for Chuck, the second time he’d saved her life, and the second time she’d lost him. She stopped climbing and wiped her eyes and face.

Her vision clearing, she noticed the red glow coming from below, streaming in from the gap between the access door and wall. Growing brighter, it illuminated the entire shaft. Beneath her hands, the ladder began to vibrate as pipes running along the wall clanged against each other. The vibration grew in intensity until Jodie worried she would lose her grip. She wrapped her arms around a ladder rung and held on.

Moments later, an explosion rocked the shaft, blasting the door inward. Jodie nearly lost her grip altogether. Her feet slipped off of the ladder and she hung by her one arm, feeling her shoulder nearly dislocate until she managed to get her feet back on the rung. The door slammed into pipes and ducts, careening downward, finally hitting bottom.

Jodie tried to shake off the ringing in her ears. She noticed movement down by the door and held still, hoping the creatures wouldn’t see her. Instead, the reddish glow grew brighter as Chuck’s face appeared in the doorway. His body appeared to be glowing a deep shade of crimson.

“Jodie? Are you okay?” Chuck called to her.

“Chuck? What happened? Your body . . . where did all of those things go?”

Chuck stepped into the shaft and grabbed onto the ladder, the glow from his skeleton gradually fading. He climbed up just beneath her.

“Well, I’m not sure what happened. They were all coming at me and I thought about you in here, all alone and I, well, I started to glow again. You know, like before? But brighter. And then this thing happened. Shock waves, or something like that, came from my body. It was like an explosion, except worse. It tore them all apart.”

Jodie didn’t know what to say. She knew he was a super soldier, but she had no idea he could be capable of such destruction.

“Jodie, do you think I could get my bag back?” Chuck asked.

“Huh?” she asked, not knowing what he was talking about.

“My bag,” he said, pointing to the Hello Kitty purse strapped over her shoulder. "I'm really hungry all of a sudden."

“Oh. Yeah, sure,” she said, slipping the bag off and handing it to him.

“Would you like one?” he asked, holding out a candy bar to her. “I think we missed dinner.”

Jodie looked down at him, laughing at the irony. Not only was it strange that he was thinking about a missed meal, but the thing her mother had created to destroy her way of life had actually saved her twice now. Plus, it had impeccable manners. “Sure, Chuck. I’d love one.”

Nick stood with the others on top of the elevator and watched as Isaiah made his way up the ladder. He’d stopped to rest twice, in obvious pain. Nick wondered if Isaiah would have the strength to fight the creature hanging on the wall above them. But what he feared even more was Isaiah losing control. He didn’t want to have to watch the process taking over his friend. Even more, he didn’t want to have to deal with the aftermath.

Isaiah clung to the metal bracing, breathing hard. Nick could see blood seeping through his clothes and caught a glimpse of his face, agony contorting it into a foul grimace. The creature snarled as Isaiah moved closer, its growls and the sound of its jaws snapping echoing in the elevator shaft. Isaiah paused for a moment and looked down at Nick.

“I’ll knock it down. I’ll try to push it into the space between the elevator and the wall. You go as soon as it comes down. Don’t look for me after. Understand?”

“Yeah, buddy,” Nick said. “Isaiah?” he called out.

Isaiah turned back to look at him.

Nick wanted to say something, but couldn't force words out of his mouth.

"It's okay, Nick. Better get them ready." Clinging to the bracing, Isaiah took another step up. Only a few more lay between him and the creature.

“Okay, everybody. We have to climb,” Nick said.

“What are we gonna do with Hunter?” Noah asked.

Nick didn’t want to tell the boy they might have to leave the dog behind. He didn’t think he’d be able to carry Hunter up the bracing, and the extra time it would take could put them all in even more danger.

“I’ll stay down here with him until you find something we can tow him up with,” Evan said. “There are fire hoses in every hallway. I can rig a harness for him and you can pull him up.”

Nick had thought of that solution, but didn’t want to put anyone in harm’s way by leaving them behind for even a moment. “Evan, I can’t let you do that,” Nick said.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not letting me. I’m telling you,” Evan said, taking Hunter’s makeshift leash from Noah. “Now, get started on climbing so that Hunter and I don’t have to wait long.”

Nick patted Evan on the back. “Thanks, Evan. Looks like Isaiah is almost there,” Nick said, pointing upwards. “I’ll go first. Fester, you follow me. I’ll need your help at the top getting that door open.”

Fester nodded.

“Noah, you help your mom,” Nick said, reaching over and kissing Christy on top of the head. “Let’s go.”

Nick grabbed onto the bracing, careful to hug the wall as much as possible, not wanting the creature to fall on him after Isaiah dislodged it. Fester, Christy and Noah followed. Nick looked down at Evan, who huddled at the far corner of the elevator roof. Suddenly, the creature above Isaiah screamed, showering Isaiah with rancid saliva. Isaiah pushed off of the bracing, throwing himself up at the creature, grabbing it around the midsection. He struggled with it, trying to dislodge it from its perch as the thing gripped him back, tearing at his clothes, blasting everyone below with blood and bits of flesh.

“Don’t look up. Don’t get it in your eyes or mouth,” Evan called out.

Nick knew he'd taken the brunt of it, his body shielding everyone below from the spray of body fluids, yet he worried that they would all be infected by the time the fight was over.

Isaiah continued to battle with the thing, tugging on it. The metal brace it stood on was wet with blood and body fluids. The thing turned, trying to push Isaiah off of itself, but lost its balance, sliding on the slippery beam. It bellowed an ear-splitting, terrifying scream, thrashing at the air, trying to regain its balance.

Finally, it toppled, Isaiah still gripped firmly to its mid-section. As they spun through the air and fell past Nick, he could see the terrible changes to Isaiah’s body. Skin replaced by scales, a reptilian glint to his eyes, which locked on Nick’s for a brief moment.

The two creatures slammed onto the edge of the elevator, sending up a spray of blood. The sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing echoed through the shaft as Isaiah flipped the creature over and slid down and out of sight between the elevator and the wall.

“Everybody okay?” Nick asked.

No response came from below. He looked down, seeing the horrified expressions on the faces of those he loved. He wanted to give them time to recover, but he knew they were in even greater danger than before. The thing had screamed and if any of the other creatures had heard it, they would already be on their way. Nick knew he was no match for them. “Let’s go. Isaiah did that for us, so let’s not waste our time.”

Nick climbed quickly, arriving at the narrow platform by the elevator door a few minutes later. Fester came up right behind him. “Fester, I’m going to hand you the gun. I’ll try to open those doors. If anything comes through them after they’re open, you shoot it.”

“Okay,” Fester said, taking the gun from Nick and looping his arm through the bracing.

"It's just like your rifle at home, but it has a bigger kick. Short bursts or it'll knock you back. Got it?”

“I’m ready.”

Nick wedged his feet between the wall and a bracket that housed the elevator cables.

“Be careful, Nick,” Christy called from below.

Nick turned to look at her, seeing her terrified expression. “Don’t worry, honey, we’ll be sitting by the lake by this time tomorrow.” He turned back to the doors, wedged his hands in between them and pulled with all his might. At first, there was no movement and Nick felt as if he would fail. Then, an inch at a time, the doors started to move, sliding apart. He gathered all of his energy and pulled hard, shoving them all the way into the recess of the wall.

Fester stood at ready with the gun aimed toward the opening.

Nick stuck his head into the dimly lit hallway and looked in both directions. “Looks okay so far,” he whispered. “Fester, I’m gonna crawl up there and you hand me the gun.”

Fester nodded, still aiming the gun past Nick.

Dragging himself into the opening, Nick pushed up to a crouch and scanned the hallway again. “Okay, Fester, hand me the gun.” Nick stuck his hand out and reached for it as something wet hit his arm.

Streams of saliva poured down as he looked up into the face of the thing clinging to the wall above Fester. It looked at Nick, then at Fester, its jaws snapping together, its putrid breath blowing down into the shaft. Suddenly, it made a move, lunging toward Fester, but the boy was ready, with the automatic weapon aimed into its open mouth.

Fester pulled the trigger, releasing a blast of bullets into its mouth, pulverizing the back of its head. Bullets ricocheted off the wall of the shaft, sending bits of shrapnel and the rotting brains of the creature spraying in all directions. The creature fell, sliding along the wall, slamming onto the top of the elevator just feet from where Evan stood holding Hunter. Evan kicked at it until it slid over the edge, out of sight.

Fester’s hands shook as Nick reached out and took the gun from him. “Good work, Fester. I’ll take it from here,” Nick said. “Let’s move.”

Nick pulled Fester, Christy and Noah into the hallway with him. “Stay here. I’ll get the fire hose,” he said, running over to the hose cabinet, about twenty feet away. He unscrewed the coupling and dragged it back near the door. Grabbing onto one end, Noah and Fester unraveled the hose and lowered it down to Evan.

“That should do it,” Evan yelled.

Nick watched as Evan fashioned a harness for Hunter. Evan looked up when he was finished. “Okay. I think we’re ready,” he said.

“Hunter, you stay still, boy,” Noah called down.

“Ready, guys?” Nick asked.

Noah and Fester nodded.

“Okay, slow and steady,” Nick said as they started to pull Hunter up.

The dog was barely off the top of the elevator when Evan called up to them. “Uh, guys?” he said, his voice wavering.

“What’s wrong, Evan?” Christy asked.

Nick looked down, seeing a clawed hand gripping onto the side of the elevator. Something from underneath was pulling itself up.

“Pull faster, guys,” Nick said.

Nick prayed that Hunter wouldn’t wriggle right out of the harness, but the dog seemed to sense the danger he was in and remained still. Moments later, they had him up at the top and were untying the hose. Nick looked over to see Evan climbing. Even though he was injured, Evan was moving at a furious pace, likely propelled by fear. The thing that was pulling itself up onto the elevator car hoisted its body all the way up and rolled over.

Nick gasped, recognizing the tattered remnants of Isaiah’s clothing clinging to what was now a horrific looking creature. It stood, its hands replaced by claws, Isaiah’s once kind face now a mass of torn skin exposing bone. Long dagger-like teeth jutted from its mouth. It looked up at Nick and snarled. Then, turning its attention to Evan, it leapt, its claws clanging against the bracing as it sprinted upwards.

“Evan, man, move faster,” Nick called out.

Sweat poured from Evan’s face as he momentarily lost his grip, sliding back a few feet. It was in that moment that Nick knew he would never make it before Isaiah caught him. Nick leaned as far over the edge as he could, but the severe angle of the shaft made it impossible to shoot Isaiah from above without taking the chance of hitting Evan.

“Fester, you take this,” Nick said, handing him the gun. “You have to shoot him once Evan is clear.”

“But it’s Isaiah,” Christy said, her voice trembling. “Oh, God,” she said, covering her mouth.

“It’s not Isaiah anymore,” Nick said. “Evan, you have to catch this and not let go.” Nick held up the hose. He handed one end to Noah and wrapped the other end around his waist, wedging himself in the doorway.

Looking down at Isaiah gaining on Evan, Nick said, “Noah, don’t miss. Throw it now.”

“Catch it, Evan,” Noah yelled, throwing the fire hose down.

Evan reached out, missing the hose as it swung past him. Isaiah was almost at his feet when Evan launched himself off of the bracing and into the shaft, aimed for the swinging harness. He hit it in mid-air and grabbed, his hands sliding down until he reached one of the knots he'd tied earlier.

Nick braced himself for the shock of Evan’s weight pulling on him. As Evan swung through the air, the force hit Nick, threatening to buckle his knees until Christy wedged herself behind the door and helped him pull. Evan slammed into the opposite wall, hitting the bracing there, where he gained a grip and clung.

Fester fired, the retort of the automatic weapon echoing through the elevator shaft. Nick watched in horrified relief as the bullets tore through Isaiah’s body, knocking him off his perch. Isaiah fell out of his field of vision, hitting the top of the elevator with a sickening thud.

Wasting no time, Evan scrambled upward, toward Nick, who pulled him inside. He lay on the floor, breathing hard, pushing Hunter back as he licked his face. “Thanks, everyone,” he said.

After untying the fire hose from his waist, Nick stood and went to Fester, sliding his arm around the boy’s shoulders. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” Nick said.